SWORD IN THE STONE
DVD release date: June 17, 2008

Who so pulleth out “The Sword in the Stone” DVD to watch is rightwise in for some fun entertainment. “The Sword in the Stone” is certainly a unique Disney film. It’s got magic, humor and even some ditties by the Academy Award winning songwriting team of Richard M. & Robert B. Sherman.

This DVD also has some fun bonus features including a playful Walt Disney. Here’s what on this DVD:

MUSIC MAGIC: THE SHERMAN BROTHERS

This featurette is from the year 2000 and is nice because you get both Richard & Robert Sherman in an interview together. Since Bob has moved to England, it’s very rare to see the two of them together. In this program, they about the how they came up with the song “Higitus Figitus” and you see storyboard artwork also.

What I thought is a particular treat in this piece is that they discuss a couple deleted songs from the film and Dick sings them.

DISNEY SONG SELECTION

There are four songs in this section. These songs never became blockbusters like some of the Sherman’s other work from “Mary Poppins” or “Winnie the Pooh” but you do get to select a song and go right to it. All except “Mad Madam Mim.” For some reason that’s not a choice. You also have the option to play the film with the lyrics on the screen.

TWO BONUS SHORTS

There are two great bonus Disney shorts, both with a medieval theme. “A Knight For a Day” is a 1946 short starring Goofy, and there’s also the 1938 classic, “Brave Little Tailor” starring Mickey himself, where he kills seven flies with one blow!

FILM FACTS

Unlike other DVDs these facts don’t accompany the film, but it is eight pages of trivia in story form. It’s not a plethora of interesting information, but there are some interesting tidbits in it.

THE SWORD IN THE STONE SCRAPBOOK

Browse thru the pages of this scrapbook and select any image to view it closely. These include Concept Art, Behind the Scenes, Publicity, and Attractions. Most are quite interesting, the Attraction photos, which are not really attractions but photos from the Resorts leave a lot to be desired, but at least the nodded to the fact that “Sword in the Stone” is represented in several of Disney’s parks.

MERLIN’S MAGICAL ACADEMY GAME

In this game you answer questions and do activities. You must complete six activities to win. The activities I saw were all pretty much the same either: you answer one question or do an arrow activity. Arrows appear on the screen and you must press the matching arrow. Although I pressed the correct answers it didn’t work right on my Sony DVD player so I tried it on my computer. I got past one of the activities but it still wouldn’t let me get past the last one even though I was doing it right. One time it actually told me I did it right and then it sent me to a “Try Again” screen.

ALL ABOUT MAGIC (Excerpt)

My favorite of all the bonus features is an excerpt from an episode of the “Disneyland” TV show. It’s almost seven minutes and is hosted by Walt. He does magic and it’s fun to see his playful side. Walt summons the magic mirror which is Hans Conried who Disney aficionados know is the voice of Captain Hook. Maybe this whole episode will be released one day. It’s really quite a bit of fun. But, in the meantime I’m happy with this excerpt.